By Laura O'Leary

26th Jun, 2018 | 9:32am

West Ham make contact over signing Bernard - report

West Ham have been in contact with some intermediaries for winger Bernard over potentially signing the Brazilian, according to a report.

Respected journalist Alfredo Pedulla shared via his official website that Manuel Pellegrini wanted to sign Bernard when he was manager of Hebei China Fortune and will now try to bring the Braziliain to the London Stadium instead.

The 25-year-old winger said his farewells to Shakhtar Donetsk in the last few days as his contract is set to expire at the end of this month and he is set to depart on a free transfer.

Football Insider verdict:

It seems the Hammers are plotting to pick up one of the most promising free agents this summer as they have had positive communications regarding signing Bernard. The 25-year-old winger is a fantastic talent and scored an impressed 10 goals in his 29 outings during the 2017/18 season. While there may be questions marks about whether he can flourish in the Premier League as he has never played in the division before, he’s worth taking a gamble on giving that a potential deal wouldn’t involve a transfer fee. Aside from being an exciting talent as Bernard can play on either flank as well as an attacking midfielder then he would give Pellegrini options when it came to setting up his team. While there are sure to be several teams in contact with Bernard’s representation over a move, the Hammers should have enough to lure him to them. This deal has a real chance of happening and could be a blinding bit of business when looked back on in the near future.

In other West Ham transfer news, they are lining up a move for a Manchester United defender.

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